Earl's Tattoo Honors the Fallen

It was the ring of bullets that first grabbed my attention when I spotted him in Penn Station:


As a soldier in New York City's 69th Infantry Regiment in the New York Army National Guard, Earl has had the honor and privilege of serving in our armed forces overseas.

But, like any one of these brave men and women can tell you, they have seen their share of sorrow when they have lost fellow soldiers in the war in Iraq and Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.

Earl's way to honor them has been to inscribe on his flesh "For the Fallen," and the initials of those that have died for their country, each bullet representing someone he knew.


On his right arm, he has this tribal piece with a military inscription:



The phrase "Mess with the Best, Die like the Rest" is one of those military slogans that is designed to inspire the soldier and intimidate the enemy.

All work was by Mark Madden at Madd Grafix Tattoo Shop in Buffalo, New York.

Thanks to Earl for his duty to this country and for sharing his memorial ink with us here on Tattoosday!

A Selection of Jorge's Tattoos

I met Jorge last week at the top of the escalators leading from Penn Station to 7th Avenue.

He has quite a few, and I took photos of the front and back of his left forearm.

The inner part of his arm has this koi design:


A friend of his did this for him, which he got for luck before going overseas with the U.S. Army to Iraq in 2008. He proudly served with the Third Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, 187th Infantry Regiment, also known as The Rakkasans.

Jorge loves what he calls his "good luck koi fish" and says "We deployed for 15 months....every time I was tired for walking for 2 or 3 days nonstop, I would look at my tattoo and smile and keep walking...".

After returning, he got this tattoo in Nashville:


This piece was just a very cool design.

Bridging these two very different tattoos are two cherry blossoms:


Jorge wanted to make sure they didn't get omitted from the post, as these flowers represent his mother and sister.

That would have been it for this post from Jorge, except the day after meeting him, he sent me this shot of a tattoo on the upper left side of his back:

He hadn't mentioned this when I met him, so I was pleased to include it in the post.

Jorge got this piece at Coyote's Tattoo in Lima, Peru.

He says this is a tribute to his mother and his Peruvian heritage. It is based on a pure gold artifact found next to a mummy in Peru which he saw on display in the American Museum of Natural History.

Thanks again to Jorge for sharing so many of his tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!